Little Reflections
by Strawberry Apocalypse
Summary: My contribution to the Transmissions from the Moon Premier Drabble Challenge. A little snippet here, a little snippet there.
1. 1 - Tomorrow

Author's Note: This is my contribution to the Transmissions from the Moon Premier Drabble Challenge. If you'd like to participate, check it out at transmissionsfromthemoon on Tumblr. It will be a lot of fun and you'll have a chance to get your fanfiction narrated for a podfic!

 **Transmissions from the Moon Drabble Challenge**

 _Little Reflections_

One

 _Tomorrow_

It was a mild Saturday afternoon. The sun was peeking out from behind a few, scattered clouds, but had not yet worked up the confidence to really blaze, as she would later in the spring. The flowers had only barely begun to break through the soil and everything felt very new and fresh.

Ami could not appreciate it, as she walked from her home to the Hikawa Shrine to meet her friends; she was too busy fretting.

Granted, there was significantly less to fret about at that time then there had been a few short months ago, when she and her fellow Sailor Guardians were once again in a life or death struggle for the peace and safety of the planet Earth, but Ami still managed. Today, her thoughts revolved around Usagi Tsukino, perhaps the most important figure in her life at that moment.

Usagi had been doing better, she had to admit. She was no longer constantly in danger of flunking out, even if she was solidly below average in her scholastic pursuits. She had certainly come through, as always, when their recent battle was at its most dire. And yet… A rare scowl graced Ami's face. She had never met anyone with the ability to procrastinate like Usagi!

As if called by her thoughts, she heard the high, chirruping voice of her friend squeal her name and turned to find her, blond ponytails flying, racing up the sidewalk to catch her. She paused and waited for Usagi to draw even with her, and then for her to catch her breath. "Good afternoon, Usagi," Ami said, voice gentle and sedate as always.

"Good afternoon, Ami!" her companion exclaimed, walking beside her with a bounce in her step, as if she could break into dance at any moment. "Today is going to be so much fun! The new episode of my favorite show is on and Minako wants to watch it with me and Mako hinted that she might be testing out a new cookie recipe today and Rei promised to let me borrow…"

Usagi continued on and Ami let her words wash over her. She seemed to speak all in one breath, her words tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be heard. Finally, as Usagi hesitated for just a moment, trying to remember what else she wanted to say, Ami interjected, "Don't you have an essay for History due on Monday?"

The blonde waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, but I have plenty of time to do that tomorrow."

"But don't you think you ought to work on it tonight, when we can all help you?"

Usagi didn't even seem to consider the offer, just shrugged. "Nah, I can do it on my own. And if I get really stuck, I can always call one of you guys for help. I'll just do the essay tomorrow."

One of Ami's greatest fears was being considered pushy or overbearing. Because of her scholastic accomplishments, some people assumed she possessed the traits without ever speaking to her. But her growing worries and her exasperation over her friends dismissive tone caused her to turn and, with a hint of desperation in her voice, exclaim, "Usagi you always say that! Whenever you have any responsibilities, you always put them off until 'tomorrow'. You… you're going to be a queen! Don't you think you should be a little more conscientious?"

Ami's brief, unusual flare of temper immediately extinguished and she caught her breath, afraid to turn towards Usagi and see her reaction. She anticipated that Usagi would begin to make excuses or become defensive, at the very least she expected tears. What she did not expect was for Usagi to reach over and take her hand, her steps slowing as she turned her face to look up at the sun dappled leaves over their heads.

The blonde was silent for a time and Ami waited. After a moment, in a very soft, steady voice, Usagi said, "I don't trust the future."

Caught off-guard by this seeming non sequitur, Ami replied, "What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath. "I know that we have seen the future and that I am supposed to be queen but… we've also seen that that can be taken away in an instant. That… everything can be taken away."

Ami carefully kept the frown off her face, "So you do not think you should prepare for the future that we saw?"

Ponytails swung as she shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. It's just…" Usagi looked at her and Ami saw a depth and maturity deep in her eyes that startled her. It felt as if Neo-Queen Serenity was staring at her out of Usagi's baby blues. " _Everything_ can be taken from us in an instant. I watched you _die_ , Ami, just three months ago. You and Mina and Rei and Mako and Mamo... " She made a quick chopping motion with her free hand, pushing the memories away. "And it wasn't the first time! Heck, it wasn't the second, third or even fourth time I thought I'd lost everything and everyone I loved."

Her eyes still remained clear of tears, but her voice was strained somewhat as she continued, "I've lost count of the number of times that I thought, was absolutely sure, that I was going to die. Sure, we visited a future where we were all alive and I was queen but… I can't make myself believe that it is going to happen. You're right, I should be more responsible and take care of things promptly but if I have time to spend with my precious friends, I want to enjoy every minute of it because," she lowered her eyes, "Because some part of me will always believe that I may not have another chance, tomorrow."

Silence descended around the two girls, hands still clasped. Ami found herself at a loss for words. She hadn't known that Usagi felt that way, though she understood. They all had wounds from their battles and she suspected that tender-hearted Usagi carried the deepest scars of all. After a few moments, Usagi gave her hand a little tug to get them walking again.

"But you're right," she conceded, "I really should at least get it started today. Will you help me?"

Ami shook her head. "I'll come over to your house and we can work on it together. Tomorrow."

The maturity and wisdom seemed to slough off of Usagi in a heartbeat, her steps immediately falling back into a skip as a bright smile spread across her face. "Yay! You're the best Ami!" And then she was off again, "You're going to love this show, it's _so_ good. You'll watch it with us, right? And maybe when it's over we can…"

Ami let her words wash over her again, giving her friend's hand a gentle squeeze as she nodded, a completely new set of frets beginning to well up in her mind.


	2. 2 - Royal

Two

 _Royal_

She stood with her head bowed and her shoulders slumped, the very image of remorse and regret. Her teacher paced back and forth before her, going through the usual lecture. Usagi didn't pay much attention, having heard it all before on multiple occasions. It had been a bad day to cap off a bad week and today she was just so _tired_.

"I cannot believe you forgot your assignment again," Miss Haruna was saying, hands gesticulating her frustration.

Usagi did not bother to argue. She had forgotten plenty of assignments, over the years, but what made this particular lecture all the more frustrating was that she had spent an hour the previous night struggling her way through the worksheet in question, with some occasional help from Mamoru when she became hopelessly stuck.

Then, on the way to school this morning, she'd turned a corner and found herself face to face with a monster. It looked like a cross between an enormous crocodile and a muscular man in a tiny, purple speedo. (She sometimes pondered whether these monsters came from dimensions where everyone looked like crocodile-men or racecar-women or whatever bizarre being she was confronted with that day, but she decided it was best not to dwell on it.) She'd managed to dive out of the way as it charged at her, but its long, sharp teeth had snapped around her bookbag, tearing it off her shoulder and giving it a shake. By the time the monster was taken care of, the contents of her bag were a loss.

But what was the good of telling her teacher that a monster had eaten her homework?

"...never met a student so irresponsible…"

Usagi wondered what Miss Haruna would have thought if she'd seen her, diving in front of the creature to keep it from attacking a couple of other schoolgirls. She was sure that, had she not had the benefit of Moon Healing, she would be a mass of spectacular bruises from the hit she'd taken. She was still sore, regardless of her enhanced body, and a day stuck on the hard wood and plastic chair of her school desk hadn't helped her aching back.

"...don't know what is going to become of you. Do you even _think_ about you are going to do in the future, Usagi?" Miss Haruna threw her hands up and the last of Usagi's patience snapped.

"I don't have to," she blurted, face going red and eyes blazing. Her teacher turned to face her, eyes wide with surprise, but Usagi plowed on. "I already know what my future holds, I'm going to rule _everything._ That's right, Miss Haruna, you don't know it, but I'm royalty. I'm actually the Princess of the Moon and when I grow up I'm going to be the Queen, ruling everything from my palace in Crystal Tokyo."

Usagi was on a roll now, words tumbling from her exhausted brain and straight out of her mouth, with no filter. "And do you know what I'm going to do, when I'm Queen? I'm going to find the best sculptor in the whole world and I'm going to have them make a statue; a statue of _you_. And I'm going to put this incredible statue of you in my garden in the middle of my crystal palace and then, then I'll sit in my garden, wearing a beautiful gown and surrounded by my guardians and my servants, and I'll watch pigeons _poop_ on you ALL DAY."

Before the shocked woman could say another word, Usagi snatched up her things and stormed out of the room, stomping as loudly as her little feet could and muttering under her breath something about not risking her life day in and day out to be treated like this.

Miss Haruna watched her go, the affronted surprise on her face slowly shifting to bemusement. Well, the girl had imagination, she would give her that. There would be hell to pay when she got to school tomorrow morning, but in the meantime… In the meantime, Miss Haruna wondered why her bookbag had been covered in teeth marks.


	3. 3 - Answers

Three

 _Answers_

A soft huff of annoyance intruded upon Mamoru's concentration and he glanced up from his book at the puffed cheeks and narrowed eyes of his girlfriend as she glowered at the text in front of her. "Why do I even bother?" she muttered, "It's not like I'm gonna get an A."

Mamoru knew Usagi backwards and forwards, had loved her in two lifetimes and would stay by her side for thousands of years, but sometimes he truly did not understand her. His Usa, who he had watched cling tenaciously to hope when everything seemed lost, who had faced down demons beyond the imagination of most people and never, ever gave up, would throw her hands up and say uncle at the smallest challenge in school. He knew that she was capable of much more than she accomplished, and he couldn't understand why she seemed to have no motivation to succeed.

Hmm… motivation.

"Let me see, Usa," he said, softly, reaching out and sliding her textbook towards himself. "Hmm, cell structure, eh?" He glanced up at her from under his bangs, watching her prod listlessly at her pencil as it rolled across the table. "What is the central part of the cell, where the chromosomes are located?"

She groaned and turned her eyes to the ceiling. "I don't know. It's all gobbledygook to me."

"Usagi," he said in the soft, warm way that he knew made her heart skip. She looked over at him and he gave her a slow, enticing smile. "Answer correctly and I'll give you a reward."

Pink tinged her cheeks as she stared at him, round-eyed. For all that they'd been together for a year now (in this lifetime, at least) and knew that they were destined to be married and have a child together, it usually took some doing on her part to get him to look at her like that. She swallowed a little. "Um… the brain?"

He shook his head, lips twitching towards a smirk. "You can do better than that, Usa. I know you've studied this."

She was lost in the endless blue of his eyes and her mouth moved seemingly of its own volition. "The nucleus," she breathed, and then looked surprised at her own answer.

Mamoru's smile widened and he leaned across the table toward her. "Yes, that's right," he practically purred before laying a very soft, warm kiss on her temple. Staying close, he continued on, his voice a pleasant rumble that made her ears tickle with pleasure. "Now, what part of the cell synthesizes protein?"

She hesitated a moment, the scent of his cologne making her feel a little dizzy as she searched her brain. "Ri… ribosomes…" she breathed at last.

Internally, Mamoru was preening at his brilliant plan. He knew she had it in her, if she had the proper incentive. "Ribosomes," he repeated, correcting her pronunciation slightly but still moving to kiss her softly just below her ear, sending goosebumps along her arms. "I knew you could do it. But can you tell me what kind of molecule makes up the cell membrane?"

She was leaning towards him, her breathing shallow and her eyes half-closed. "Phospholipids," she answered, with barely any hesitation. This earned her a kiss just at the corner of her mouth.

Their study session continued in that vein until late in the evening and when, a week later, Usagi earned an A on her quiz, Mamoru was the only one who was not surprised.


	4. 4 - Never

Four

 _Never_

He removed his cape and draped it over the back of a chair and then removed his white mask and set it aside. Stretching long arms over his head, he stifled a yawn. It had already been a busy day, attending negotiations and carefully crafting policies to maintain the peace and tranquility of the kingdom, but before King Endymion could seek out his wife and retire to their chambers, he wanted to run some diagnostics on the palace security.

So he found himself before the large, crystalline control panel, activating different aspects of the system with the brush of his innate powers, rather than through something as crude and insecure as physical touch. Images appeared on the large screens, scenes of different areas around the castle with overlays that monitored everything from temperature and humidity to gravitation and the flow of space-time. One never knew from what means one's enemies would strike, not anymore.

He paused momentarily on the image of a young woman with long pink hair that flowed from two conical buns, wearing a soft rose-colored gown and speaking seriously to one of her tutors. His Small Lady had grown into a lovely young woman. He smiled fondly, realizing that she was now about the age, physically if not temporarily, that her mother had been when Mamoru had first met her. He was so proud of her. Of both of them.

His peaceful thoughts were interrupted when a light atop the crystal control panel suddenly flickered to life, sending flashes of red around the room. His stomach dropped as a warning sound began to scream at him. Urgently, his eyes returned to the screen, but his daughter and her tutor were still conversing calmly. He swiftly shifted to a number of other scenes but all of the occupants were going about their business as usual. Whatever had triggered the alarm must not have been urgent enough to set off a palace-wide alert. Anxiously, he began hunting down the cause.

He was monitoring energy readings around the palace and was preparing to expand his search to the rest of Crystal Tokyo when an image popped up in the middle of his screen, notifying him that he had an urgent message from Sailor Venus. Good, as Captain of the Queen's Royal Guardians, if anyone knew what was going on, it would be her. He activated the message with a pulse of power and said, "This is Endymion, I've received notification of an emergency somewhere on the grounds but I can't locate the issue. Report, Venus. ...Venus?"

There was silence for a long moment and then the warning faded to silence and the light stopped flashing as someone else's face appeared on the communication screen. Endymion frowned as he looked at the man. It had been a long time, more than a thousand years, and yet… his face tickled Endymion's memory.

Suddenly, music flooded the room and the image of the man began moving. Memory accompanied the music and Endymion's lips tightened into a thin line. Teeth gritted, he snatched up his cape and mask, storming out of the security room to find the culprit waiting for him in the outer chamber with a wide, cheshire grin.

"Venus," he growled and her grin widened a little. He took a deep breath and forced his tone into something a bit more kingly. "Venus, you are the Captain of the Queen's Royal Guardians." She nodded, teeth still flashing. "Leader of the universally renowned Sailor Warriors." Her blond hair bounced as she nodded. "Beloved idol of the planet Earth for more than a thousand years and acclaimed genius tactician and strategist."

"Ooh, why thank you, Your Majesty," she chirped, "I didn't know you thought so highly of me." Her wide, wicked grin did not leave her face.

"All of those things considered, Venus," he said, lifting a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "If you must prank your king, do you think you could try a little harder than _rickrolling_ me?"

Venus nearly doubled over, arms around her stomach and golden hair tumbling about her face as she burst into laughter, the console in the security room still blaring in the background. " _Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down…_ "

xXx

 **AN:** I… I don't know… It just… happened.


End file.
